Saving One's Life
by snowwy-night-sky
Summary: Medics usually are the best assassins. Now, she's in this profession way too deep and she can't stop. And what's funny is that it's him, a killer, who's trying to save her from self-destruction.


_Oh, hello! This is my first Naruto fanfic. So please be nice to me *bows down*_

_There are some things that I need to say. First, I don't know a lot of things in the Naruto world. I started watching Naruto just 2 months ago and I'm starting to get hooked in it. But there's no way I'd be able to watch it from episode 1 of the original series to the latest episodes or from chapter 1 to the latest. So, I turned to wikia. I got most of the details and infos I needed for this fic. Even though I'm just a newbie, I've been thinking about this fic a month after I started watching it but was a little hesitant because I wasn't sure if I'd be able to portray the characters. Or if I'd do well writing down this fic. I'm feeling really insecure and even till now, I'm still having doubts about this fic and such._

_ If you find any mistakes, please let me know and I'll fix it right away._

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

* * *

Her fake, unblinking baby blue eyes scanned the forest, never letting anything distract her as she looked for a single sign of her prey. Not even the wet grass tickling her ankles deterred her concentration. Or the protruded piece of bark digging on her lower back as she pressed herself on a tree to keep her presence hidden. Or the fireflies beautifully illuminating the dark forest perked her attention.

The rain has just ended and water drenched her knee-high yukata and it felt like it's seeping through her skin. Her medic mind screamed at her to go and change into dry clothes and take some pills to get herself from getting sick because she still has patients to attend to tomorrow, but she lightly shook her head to clear her mind. And to get some water out of dripping black bangs.

Far away in the distance, about a mile or two, she saw a flicker of light. She might not be a part of the Nara super genius clan or the Hyuuga who has the best eyesight in the world, but she can tell what that flicker is. It's her prey who's holding either a lamp or a flashlight to illuminate his way.

_Stupid_, she mentally taunted. She felt her body unconsciously move to assume her position but thought twice. It could be just a civilian passing by at a wrong time. Her prey can't be _that_ stupid to use something that may give his position away to hunter nins. So she moved closer, careful not to step on any twigs or branches on the ground. When she's close enough to confirm his identity, she perched herself up in a high branch of a tree and squinted her eyes to get a better look on the man's face. Yup, it's definitely him.

She ran back near her previous spot where she had a great view of the fireflies flying around and quickly sat down on a tree root, all the while ripping the strap of her right sandal. A gold gust of wind hit her body and she can't help but shiver. She did not dare to use any chakra because it might give _her_ position away. _It's better this way, though_, she thought. Her shivering appearance might give her some advantage over her target.

Five minutes passed and she can finally hear some footsteps behind her. She, on the other hand, has already started sniffling, thanking the weather and the cold wind because she has one less thing to fake.

She started shifting and squirming on her spot, when her prey suddenly flashed his flashlight to her face. Her pupils quickly constricted because _it's too damn bright and he's pointing it in her eyes_ and she squinted her eyes and raised a hand to block some of the light away, acting like a deer caught in the headlight.

"Well, what do we have here?" her target, Akumu Kitsune sneered at her as he stalked towards her frozen figure. He roared a laugh as he watched her scramble and try to run and tripped for the sandal strap broke.

"This is such a nice scenery, isn't it?" he said as he walked towards her, "It's so..._romantic_, don't you think?" he taunted her and she scrambled back. He took a long stride forward.

"What are you doing here, beautiful?" Another step.

"G-get away from me!" she grabbed a stick and threw it at him. It hit him just above his chest and it seemed to annoy and at the same time, excite him even more.

"Oh, you'll pay for that, bitch!" And with that he lunged to her trembling form, his right hand reaching for her yukata while the other grabbed her hair (for which she was quite thankful that she did not wore a wig). He attacked her throat and his hand ripped her yukata open, exposing her chest to the cold air, ignoring her cries and pleas. He got annoyed at her struggle and brought his hand down on her neck to knock her out. He did not succeed but her eyes widened in shock. That was close to her chakra pressure point.

When Akumu attacked her chest, she quickly pressed on a pressure point on the back of his neck. His eyes rolled at the back of his head and slumped forward. She quickly reached for his wrist and when she did not find any pulse did she finally pushed Akumu's body to the side and stood up, rearranging her yukata to make her look at least presentable, taking a scroll out, "Wanted, Akumu Kitsune. Dead or alive. I say he's dead." she murmured and took out a small earpiece connected to a small microphone on her inner thigh.

"Haruno Sakura reporting. Mission accomplished."

* * *

It has been twenty something minutes and her back up hasn't arrived yet and she's so _bored_. She mentally kicked herself for not bringing that book she recently purchased so instead, she settled for the second best, watching the fireflies. It would have been a really nice scenery, if not for the fact that there's a dead body on the ground in front of her, but she politely ignored it and took off her contacts. She knew it's a bad idea with all the dirt and bacteria on her hands but she can no longer take another second with the contacts.

At times like this, she can't help but let the peace wash over her. It has been quite a long time since she had time to sit down and simply do nothing. All that's missing are a set of dry, warm clothes, a cup of hot chocolate, and a blanket and she can call it a peaceful night.

She doesn't really have a day job. All her jobs require her standing up and running or chasing down someone. And even if she did find some time to relax, it'll be all over a minute once it started either because of an emergency from the hospital or there's a mission that specifically asks for her. Life truly has never been easy for her.

After ten something minutes more, her backup finally arrived.

"You're late, _again_, Kakashi-sensei." She said at the sight of her lackadaisical former teacher. Kakashi merely grinned at her and walked towards her.

"Sorry, I ran into someone."

She felt a vein throb on her forehead and bit her tongue to keep the profanities at bay and settled for rolling her eyes, "Lies."

"He's telling the truth." A cold, steely voice rang out from above and she felt her hand twitch for the kunai she's hiding on her left thigh. She would've flung the kunai to that person if she did not recognize the owner of the voice.

"Sasuke-kun." She called out in greeting, touching the spot where Akumu hit her, feeling a little strain on that part.

Sasuke jumped down from the branch he was standing on and landed in front of her.

"Sakura." He called out in response.

She silently studied his proud posture. He's wearing the standard ANBU outfit with the exception of the mask that he is holding on his right hand by the strap, his red eyes glowing in the dark. His face, despite being only 19 years in age, looked like he's in his mid- 20's. With all the things he's been through, it's not really a surprise. She felt herself shiver at the sight, but she does not know if it's because her clothes are still wet or because of his presence.

An awkward silence passed by them, their former sensei now pulled out his porn book, but is obviously watching his students' interaction with fascination. It's not that everyday that two of his students are together. Ever since Sakura was promoted to Jounin, she now spent most of her time tending to patients, bossing interns around, or going to A or S-rank missions, half of them are assassinations that require no evidence left behind. What's funny was that Sakura, out of his three students and two ambitious ones, was the first one to be promoted into Jounin. Naruto threw a fit, of course, but eventually got over it. Sasuke, who was dragged back by the jinchuuriki (kicking and screaming, mind you) had to once again start with the academy all over again _(For the sake of humiliation_, the hokage said) but only stayed at the academy for a year and was immediately promoted into chuunin and, another year after that, both Naruto and Sasuke took the test for Jounin and ANBU. And they both passed with flying colors.

Sasuke and Sakura stared at each other, one impassively and one awkwardly. It has been three months since they last saw each other and it was not on good terms. It involved a lot of screaming and punching on Sakura's part and hissing and blocking on Sasuke's part.

"So… uh, yeah." She moved her gaze down to the dead man on the ground, finding it more pleasing to the eyes than the man still staring at her and walked towards it to carry him back to Konoha for autopsy. Sakura could've done it without waiting for a back-up, but since she's not an ANBU, it's a requirement.

Even after all those years, she still can't look at him in the eye. The pain, the sadness, it's still all there, suppressed deep in her heart. Locked and she threw the key away. And she knows, it's the same for him too. Realization has hit her long ago that she has no chance for his heart. Never had and never will. And slowly, the way they interacted with each other changed. Or maybe, it is her who changed. She became hostile towards him. She no longer cared.

As she reached a hand on the back of the body, a gloved hand beat her to it, roughly grabbing the leg of the body.

"Careful!" she hissed. It's essential that she bring the body back without a large amount of damage in the body and with Sasuke's plan, which is to drag him by the ankle, she's positive that the body will be in 3 different pieces by the time they get back to Konoha.

Sasuke retracted his hand and she pushed him away, "Let me do it."

Once she finally secured the body on her back, she turned to her companions, "Ready to go back?"

A grunt and a cheerful 'Yes' was what she needed and they started their ten hour journey back to Konoha, with her on the lead.

* * *

The sun was already setting when they reached the gates of their precious village. Sakura bid a cheerful goodbye to her Genin teacher and a curt nod towards Sasuke and turned her back to them without waiting for their response. _Just like what he did years ago_, she solemnly thought, _that_ night flashing in front of her eyes.

She made a beeline to the Hokage's office, carefully securing the cloak that she had Kakashi throw on the man during their half-hour break because there's no way people would appreciate the Hokage's precious apprentice walking around with a dead body on her back.

The direction of the sun told her that it must be around 6 in the evening and knowing her shisou, she must be slumped on her desk by now, sporting a headache. So she did the most sensible thing to do; she banged on the door of her shisou's office. Curses rang from the other side of the door before giving her permission to come in.

"Delivery for Tsunade-shisou." She playfully said, carefully laying the man down on the floor.

"Good work." Tsunade praised, holding her head. She then looked over Sakura's shoulder, making her wonder if her shisou's _that_ drunk or she's _this_ drunk, "And I assume everything went well on your mission?"

"Yes."

Tsunade threw her an annoyed glance, "I wasn't talking to you. I was talking to him."

Sakura's eyes widened in shock and spun around. There, standing proud behind her, was Sasuke. She mentality kicked herself for not noticing his presence. But then confusion came. Why she did not notice him? She might not have a very tuned ears but she can easily detect chakra, no matter how weak they may seem to be. _ I must be really tired_, she thought to herself.

Sasuke merely stepped forward, his shoulder guard brushing hers.

"Hn."

"Don't you grunt me you conceited jerk! Give me a proper answer!" Tsunade yelled at him, slamming her fist on the steel desk that Sakura got her when she cracked the last one. And Sakura took that as her cue to leave, tiptoe-ing towards the door and quietly shutting it close. She knew her shisou adores her, but she does not discriminate when she finally reached the end of her fuse for the day. Even with the door shut, she still heard Sasuke comply to her shisou's demands.

* * *

She felt like a zombie and she must have looked like one too and all she wants to do right now is to go home, change into a freshly washed top and short, sleep, and never wake up till tomorrow evening, maybe wash the black hair dye away before collapsing on her bed, but she can't do that yet. She still has to drop by at the Yamanaka flower shop and show her bestfriend that she's still alive and kicking. The two of them, since they both became Jounins and started accepting dangerous mission, made a pact that one of them must 'report' to the other after reporting to the Hokage.

At first she was a little apprehensive. They are shinobis and promises are something they don't take lightly, especially with something like 'I promise to stay alive'. Shinobis are quite known to die early, and most shinobis die around the age 20 and early 30's. And only those powerful ones live past the average age.

The flower shop was closed when she got there, but she knew that her bestfriend is inside, doing who knows what, so she still went in, the bell chiming over her head and called her bestfriend's name.

And there, on the tiled floor of the shop was Yamanaka Ino. Making out with Shikamaru. With their shirts strewn on the floor and Shikamaru reaching for her…..

Oh _fuck_.

"Ino! Knock knock!" Sakura pounded harshly on the cashier desk, surprising the two and breaking their intimate kiss, jumping away from each other.

"Forehead!" a red-faced Ino shouted in surprise and quickly reaching for the nearest shirt and covering her chest. Shikamaru, on the other hand, took out a cigarette and lighted it.

"Shikamaru, you're supposed to do that after sex. Not after you are interrupted." Sakura teased him, hoping to see him flustered but failed. The genius merely stood up a snatched the shirt Ino was holding up.

"Whatever. See ya, Ino. Sakura." He walked past Sakura and she waved at him.

"You should be ashamed, Ino." Sakura grinned at her, handing the shirt that she found on the vase.

"Yeah, yeah. You look like a walking zombie, by the way."

She rolled her eyes, "Thank you for the compliment."

Sakura took a seat beside the door and closed her eyes when Ino's voice rang out, "You do realize that there's no need to keep your chakra hidden, right?"

"What?"

"I can't feel your chakra. If it isn't for the fact that you're trying to doze on that chair then I would've think that I'm all alone in here." Ino said, staring directly at her.

"What are you talking about? I'm not…" Then, realization hit her. That bastard got her chakra pressure point!

Quickly taking out a kunai, she slashed her wrist, ignoring Ino's cries. She tried to summon her chakra to the bleeding area but she felt nothing.

"What the hell are you doing, Sakura?! And why aren't you healing it yet?" Ino screeched at her, taking out a rag and wiping the blood that dripped on the floor, not worried for she knew that her bestfriend could heal it in a snap. When the blood continued to drip down, she was about to yell at Sakura to stop bleeding or elses when she saw the frightened look on her face and grew concerned, "Sakura?" Ino stood up and put a pressure on her bleeding wrist and lightly shook Sakura.

"Ino…." Sakura started, her complexion turning pale from the blood loss. "My chakra…. I can't feel it…."

* * *

_Please let me know what you think and leave a review. I also accept constructive criticism. Again, please let me know if you find errors in this fic._


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